Driver says he got ticket even after paying to park in Nashville lot

Daniel Ledford thought he'd found the perfect parking spot on Saturday when he stumbled upon the Park Happy lot on the corner of 8th Avenue South and Demonbreun Street.

But he soon found out it was anything but.

"I parked in this exact same spot, bought the ticket from the machine, put it in the windshield face up and walked over to the courthouse," he said.

According to the sign, parking is just $2 for weekends and holidays. Ledford said he was there for four hours and never left.

When he got back at 2:30 that afternoon, he said, "I found the ticket on the windshield. It said that I had used a previous receipt and it was one that either I had left the lot and parked in the same exact spot or I had used a ticket from somebody else."

Kathleen Calligan with the Better Business Bureau said she has seen dozens of these types of disputes before.

"That's a very difficult complaint issue to mediate successfully," she said.

In fact, over the past three years, the BBB has received pages and pages of complaints against Park Happy, formerly Value Parking.

"Consumers tell us that they park, come back within their allotted time, and they've been ticketed. And the ticket is a mighty one," Calligan said.

She said there's no reason to believe that Park Happy is trying to gouge customers. Instead, Calligan said she believes the problem is two-fold: The rules need to be more transparent, and customers need to read the fine print.

"Parking is big business. It's costly, so you've got to understand the whole process, what is your responsibility," Calligan said.

Ledford insists he did everything right and is refusing to pay the ticket.

"It seems little, but in my mind, it's the principle of it all," he said.

The BBB is working with Park Happy to resolve the complaints. Calligan said, in most cases, the company has dropped the tickets or returned customers' money. She said parking is such a problem downtown that her office is putting together a sheet with parking tips.

Shortly after Channel 4's story aired, Ledford said he heard back from the company that they were going to void the violation and apologized for any inconvenience they may have caused.